Emily Thornberry, one of Jeremy Corbyn's closest allies, has invoked the Queen's call for calm in a bid to see off a leadership challenge from Labour MPs.

Speaking to ITV's Robert Peston the shadow foreign secretary made a plea to plotters in the party who want Mr Corbyn to stand down following the Brexit vote and ahead of a possible snap General Election.

Ms Thornberry said: "I agree with the Queen. The Queen said yesterday that there is a time for politicians to cool down, to unite and to think of the good of our nation, and that’s what we should be doing.

"She has a lot of experience, she’s led this country for more than 60 years, she’s seen many crises – she’s right.”

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On Saturday, addressing the opening of the Scottish Parliament, the Queen said: "Retaining the ability to stay calm and collected can at times be hard."

She added: "As this parliament has successfully demonstrated over the years, one hallmark of leadership in such a fast-moving world is allowing sufficient room for which can enable deeper consideration of how challenges and opportunities can be best addressed."

It came as Mr Corbyn issued an olive branch to his MPs, many of whom resigned from his front bench last week, in a bid to bring the party back together in the wake of deep divisions.

Mr Corbyn looked furious after a confrontation with a journalist over the weekendCredit:
Julian Andrews

Writing in the Sunday Mirror, he said: "I am ready to reach out to Labour MPs who didn’t accept my election and oppose my leadership – and work with the whole party to provide the alternative the country needs.

"But they also need to respect the democracy of our party and the views of Labour’s membership, which has increased by more than 60,000 in the past week alone."

Mr Thornberry said that a uniting figure like John Prescott could work between the two groups in a bid to forge a way forward.

She added: "He is the leader, he is the democratically-elected leader and I think that it is really important that we have some calm voices, some cool heads at a time like this and we need to work out how we get through this.

"We need a sort of John Prescott figure... not as a leader, as an honest broker.”